Story of my Brunei Car

              My story started in1996. The area shown in the first photo here has now changed so much. The beach houses shown in the photos below are not there any more in Brunei, but our memories stay forever.

My Brunei car Toyota DX KC 2733 

              

      Kuala Belait is the second largest town in Brunei after Bandar Seri Begawan.

              When I got a job at Panaga, Kuala Belait, it was one of the best working experiences in my life. Salary was good. In those days, the conversion rate was about Rm 2.5 to B$1,so it's still good ( now the rate is about Rm 3 to B$1 ). Free accomodation was provided with free electricity and water usage.

           It was my first time working abroad and just a 20 minute flight from Kota Kinabalu, my hometown.😉

On arrival, a car was provided for me for a week and cash of B$500 to buy the basic necessities for daily use until I received my first pay.

Brunei Shell Petroleum Company head office

Free car for 1 week, a Volkswagen 

      A car is necessary in Brunei, as there was no public transport to where I needed to go.  So I bought a second hand car from a friend for B$2000. A Toyota DX with Brunei plate number KC 2733. 

Arrival of DX KC2733 - Year 1996

After receiving my car. I felt so grateful even though it's old, as there was no public transport in that area where I was staying. As expected my DX did not give me any problems all the time I was there. 

And since then, my DX has been my companion. 

Brunei roads are smooth unlike here in Sabah. You can tell the difference when you drive your car in Sabah and Brunei i.e. the road surface etc. Hard to describe the feeling and experience driving in Brunei after driving here in Sabah. There were not many cars in Kuala Belait in those days but I am sure it's not the same today. Then, hardly any traffic jams, except at check points between Brunei and Miri. 

         During school holidays, my children would fly over to spend time with me in Brunei. They too, had happy memories of DX especially driving along the beach.

DX KC 2733 parked outside my accommodation - 1996

DX, my saviour and companion in Brunei-1996

 Walkway to the beach from my accommodation, which only took us less than 2 mins. 

                    One of the best experiences with DX was driving all the way to Jerudung Park on the 16th July 1996 for the free Michael Jackson Concert at Jerudong Park! 

 It was a privilege to watch the King of Pop performing live for free! I was a big fan of Michael Jackson.💓💓💓

My husband was also a big fan, but he never got to see Michael. But he did see

THE Beatles, before they became famous, in a night club called "The Majestic " in UK in early 60's for under 2 shillings.😂

When my contract ended, I decided to bring DX home to Sabah for good. I wrote to our Malaysian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and i received approval letter within 2 weeks, allowing me to bring DX home. With my friend as a companion, who is also from Sabah, we drove DX home to Kota Kinabalu, passing many routes in and out of Brunei and Sarawak. When you look at the map which I had drawn, it will give you an idea what I mean.

It was a 6-8 hours drive from Brunei to Kota Kinabalu

There were 8 check points we had to go through with 8 immigration and custom checks

Therefore, ending us up with 8 immigration stamps in our passport- 2 pages full. And for your information, that was only 1 way. For those wanting a return trip, they ended up with 4 pages full of 16 immigration stamps. 😂

Arrival of DX  to Sabah - Home Sweet Home

With the necessary documents, KC 2733 became 2512, Christmas Day date. It's a blessed car!🙏

New ownership of DX - My Son

On my son's 18th birthday, I gave DX 2512 to him as his present. He love it to bits and still does after all these years. Following his return from abroad, he turned my angelic white car to a black Monstrous car! 🤦‍♀️I almost fainted when seeing the big change of my beloved DX. What can I do?🙄The car belongs to him now and he can do whatever he wants to his liking. 😅To him, it's a legendary car with lots of meaningful memories in it.😂 

To this day, this car remains our family treasure, still in use today. 🙏